Felis
by Laryna6
Summary: A dead 'master', an abandoned child and being locked in do not make for a happy cat. But that's just the start of Sulpher's troubles as he tries to take care of a child with rather special needs...
1. On the Care and Feeding of Cats

Disclaimer: I don't own Mana Khemia.

I want to explore the whole 'raised by a cat' aspect of things. It explains quite a bit about why Vayne is the way he is.

His decision to become an alchemist was the first ever desire that was _his_, according to the split personality that was caused by a horrific childhood experience in an almost normal way. So how does an entity that _is _other people's desires, yeilding to them like water flowing downhill, develop the independence from its own nature that would take?

A human, with control over that sort of ultimate power, wouldn't want it to develop a will that might disagree with the human's own. Or what if Isoide found him first, when she realized before the end of the game that to kill him she'd have to make him want to kill himself "by his own hand!" She was happy to drive him to suicide: I pity an infant Vayne if she'd been the one to find him.

This was infected by my fondness for dark humor, more than a little tongue-in-cheek (as later chapters will highlight if they get written), and there's fact that Sulpher is a cat, and half-starved at this point. A carnivore. It's certainly not cannibalism if it's not your own species. And he's feeling a lot more sad and betrayed than he lets on. The anger stage of grief.

I want to add at least two other ficlets on to this – life in the forest & starting out at Mana Khemia. I might have it lead into the post-game scenario I want, the one where Jess lives. We'll see what I'm up to.

-

Sulpher yowled, decidedly not amused.

Theofratus Aurelius was now officially dead to him, he decided as he sat back, tail lashing.

That was on top of being literally dead, of course.

The human could at least have had the decency to _open the damn door_ first. Years of companionship, and Sulpher was left as good as locked in with a corpse? If Isolde didn't stop by soon, as she did randomly in hopes the tom she was attracted to saw sense, and find him then Sulpher would starve to death.

Although, what with this large lump of meat here, the more immediate problem would be water. Sulpher wasn't mad enough to drink from the cauldron, and he didn't have hands to turn the faucet.

There was a person in here with hands, but the kit was staring at the body, too lost and confused to even mew. Or cry, which seemed to be the human equivalent. Sulpher didn't approve of the water.

He had just opened his eyes for the first time and been immedietly confonted with a near-madman who had ordered him to kill. Mana who were pacted had the ability to refuse commands, but a newborn? The kit, Sulpher had decided, had clearly had no idea what his father was asking. What any of this meant.

The shock had made him fall out of midair, where he had been floating (mana did that), onto a hard marble floor, and he was just lying there, newly-opened light eyes blank, staring in the direction of the corpse.

Hmm. A mana who could grant wishes. What Sulpher needed right now was a pair of hands.

And food. Theofratus had been in here for days, focused on the mana and forgetting to make Sulpher's gourmet catfood. At least he'd let him at the raw materials, but he'd eaten all of them.

Sulpher padded over to the infant mana hopefully. When that failed to get his attention, he pushed his head against his hand. Nothing worked until he stepped in front of his (the dead man had called him Vain: the ultimate act of the vanity they'd accused him of, he'd ranted) eyes and blocked his view of the corpse.

The wish to be able to communicate & the wish to be let out of the room were easily granted. Then there was the wish to have his favorite cat food, which he certainly needed after all this, and Vayne obeyed his instructions, his wishes, exactly.

There was no need to wish for materials, not with the body there. Having Vayne push it into the cauldron killed two birds with one stone: newborn minds and memories were fragile. Without the rotting reminder Vayne would hopefully forget his first moments, in the way cats didn't remember their first weeks or humans their first years.

Or so Sulpher wished, anyway, because that look of lost, broken devastation and inability to understand was unpleasant.

Theofratus' original desire had been to create a mana that could grant miracles, even restoring life, the life of that girl. Sulpher had watched him become twisted until Sulpher wondered if he even remembered the name of the catalyst of all this. He'd heard Theofratus rant and realized Theofratus no longer cared or wanted to save her, didn't want anyone to succeed where he had failed. Didn't care about anyone other than himself, even his own cat.

Vayne could probably have restored Aurelius to life, if Sulpher had wished it.

Sulpher did not wish. Theofratus was officially dead to him.

The man who had shared his food with a stray cat was _not_ the man who had left his loyal companion to die and done this to a kitten.


	2. On The Care And Feeding of Mana

Ah, the power of reviews – when no one reviewed this at first I was worried that it had come out terrible. Then I get three one after the other.

It really helped my mood, energy, and ability to write, so thank you three.

I haven't been up to dialogue, so this chapter is far more telling instead of showing than I'd like. The idea for the next chapter is to explain why Sulpher is Vayne's weapon & have a conversation between Sulpher & another character, so we'll see how that goes.

Again, I don't own this, although I own a copy of the game (which is being loaned out at the moment) & I hope to acquire the sequel & Cross Edge sometime this year... It would help if I was making money at this, but I'm not.

-

The mana was following him around like a lost puppy.

At first it was convenient. If he wanted a door opened so he could go out, Vayne would do it immediately. If he wanted a door closed to keep the cold out, Vayne did it. If he needed the door held open, Vayne would do so without complaining the way Theofratus had.

Although, to be fair, Sulpher had needed to sit in doorways a lot more often while Theofratus had been alive. Sulpher's nose was far more sensitive to the vapors that had arisen from Theofratus' cauldron than a half-mad human's. If it weren't for Sulpher, Theofratus would probably have gotten himself killed by carbon monoxide or some other poisonous fume _long_ before Vayne was born to do it. Normally alchemists were careful about sunlight and proper ventilation to the point of paranoia.

Normally, alchemists weren't suicidal.

Aurelius had saved Sulpher's life, providing companionship and a steady food supply. In return, Sulpher had done the same by staying with him even when he forced all others away and periodically going and waking him out of the trance his experimenting put him into so he looked at the clock and realized it had been six hours since he'd eaten.

While dogs were naturally servile creatures, the relationship between cats and humans had always been based around honor. A human fed a cat, and in return the cat protected their food supply from vermin so the human had food.

Theofratus had saved a young kitten who had been abandoned, and now Theofratus had abandoned a young creature.

It wasn't as though Sulpher resented Vayne (as much as he was displeased with Theofratus' dishonor), it was that Vayne was needy.

If there wasn't a door to hold open or food to make, he would sit there, practically vibrating with the need to do something for Sulpher. Normally mana, in Sulpher's experience, had lives of their own, or at least had things of their own to do when their pact-holders weren't in need of their services. Vayne didn't seem to have any idea how to vanish to wherever it was they vanished to, or was it demanifestation?

From what Sulpher had understood from Theofratus' rants, Vayne's nature was to grant wishes. That was all very well, but Sulpher was wishing for some peace and quiet.

It was worse for Vayne.

At first, Sulpher had let Vayne use his mana powers since it was natural to him, but eventually he had Vayne stop using them, except in alchemy, because _things took longer that way_.

And the less he used his powers the less often he remembered. Even though Theofratus' body was gone and human memory was malleable, it seemed that the memory of the first thing Vayne's power had been used for was forever tied to those powers. When Sulpher realized that he became even more determined that Vayne do things the normal way.

Mana were their element, in the way living creatures were flesh and blood. If Vayne didn't have anything to do he started to get twitchy, uncomfortable. He started to think, in particular about a certain thing best left forgotten.

If it was left too long he'd be desperate enough for something to do that sitting there and not bothering Sulpher was a wish he was happy to grant, but it was just plain wrong for someone to be that dependant. He wasn't going to let any creature he was raising end up so doglike.

The dust made him sneeze and made his fur dirty, so he showed Vayne where the soap was and tried to remember the times he'd seen cleaning done by hand. Fishing was also something peaceful that took awhile. Reading. Cooking and eating, even though Vayne didn't need to eat and wouldn't unless Sulpher wanted him to.

Living creatures ate to replace flesh and blood. Vayne fulfilled wishes to continue to be the power that granted wishes.

The trouble was that Sulpher had fairly few wishes.

He tried to take him to the nearby villages a few times. Humans, being humans, had all sorts of wishes. (And there were lady cats in those villages.)

The first time it went wonderfully, at first. There was an old woman who needed someone to do her chores and listen to stories about her grandchildren, and wasn't Vayne a nice, helpful boy? Vayne had practically been waging a tail. Disgraceful, but at least he was happy, fed, and would be kept entertained while Sulpher took a break.

Then she'd remarked offhand how she wished she was young again and Vayne had started glowing and floating the way mana did, since that wasn't a wish human hands could grant, and before Sulpher had been able to get him to stop there had been screaming and wishing the monster would go away and Sulpher had thought that Vayne had ceased to exist for a very scary hour as he ran home through the forest.

He'd found Vayne lying where he'd fallen after Theofratus' death.

Sulpher could wish that Vayne not use his powers unless it was alchemy or it was important and there was no other way, but Vayne didn't have any idea of what was important. A wish was a wish, whether for a pony or a kingdom, and Theofratus was right about one thing: Vayne didn't understand effort, didn't understand not being able to have something. Didn't understand that people could want things but not want them enough to actually do them.

Might want to go to the city but be happier staying in the village instead of being teleported there. Might want be angry at someone but not want them dead, not really. Wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't... And Vayne shouldn't do anything that would end up with him crying like that.

Shouldn't, _must not_ do anything that would make them realize what he was. Oh, ignorant peasants weren't a problem. But if someone who understood mana realized what Vayne was and how powerful he was?

What Sulpher wanted, he told Vayne, was for Vayne to _think before doing things_. Think about the _consequences_. Think about if he actually wanted to do something.

The trouble was that Theofratus might be right about the mana not having any desires of its own, or that the three-month-old mana might not understand wanting something in the way fish might not understand water until they first breached the surface and saw there was not-water.

Vayne looked utterly lost when Sulpher asked what he wanted, once Sulpher told him that things he wanted because Sulpher wanted them (like stroking Sulpher, and making Sulpher's food, and catching fish for Sulpher) didn't count. In order to want something you had to not-want something else, Sulpher realized one day as Vayne brushed his hair. To want food meant not wanting to be hungry.

Vayne Did Not Want death. Or to be alone, or for people to be afraid of him.

That was a start, at least.

Vayne wasn't stupid, so he'd thought they would make progress fairly quickly. He was wrong.

When Vayne _stood there and let a bear bite his arm off_ because it was hungry and wanted to eat him? That was when Sulpher realized how bad things really were.


	3. Self Defense For Beginners

The game booklet makes a point of Vayne's blood type being "??" Of course, that's during the game. After the game, he can't be distinguished from a normal human, which would imply having a normal blood type.

As Vayne is essentially the power of wishes given form, it's reasonable that his form wouldn't necessarily be exactly human. Theofratus' aim was to create "a refined form of artificial mana," not to create an artificial human being. So I doubt Vayne was born especially anatomically correct. Perhaps no more so than the other humanoid mana we see. Even the older mana don't eat/never formed bodies realistic and detailed enough to be able to consume and taste, let alone digest, food.

It says something about Vayne's powers that he can give himself extra capabilities. And give others extra capabilities, by extension. Yes, Isolde's correct. If people knew about his capabilities they _would _fight wars over them. Army of supersoldiers, anyone?

…Now I'm thinking about Vayne's other self meeting Bink's.

Mana of "Whatever The Hell I Want," meet the Talent of "Do Not Fuck With Me, You Will Not Win."

I just couldn't get started with this: the wonderful Nemi helped by RPing out a bit of it with me, which I added to and we both then edited.

-

Why isn't there blood? Sulpher thought as he stared at the black, no meat red wisps of void that came from Vayne's limb and body. There should be blood, he thought, and there was a fountain of red that splattered over the bear, its prize, the dead ground and Vayne's cringing body.

Did mana bleed?

Vayne did now, like he felt pain since Sulpher had wished he would stop letting his arm get caught in the door and other such careless things.

Vayne was most likely edible now. The bear would have wished it so.

"Vayne! Kill…" No, he couldn't make Vayne kill with mana powers. He couldn't.

But Vayne didn't have a weapon, didn't know how to fight. "Vayne, run!"

Vayne obeyed (as always) and they reached the house. The bear didn't try the door, but Sulpher could smell it out there.

What were they going to do? He could show Vayne the book of Theofratus' recipes and hope he could decode the one for bombs? But would Vayne be able to attack something that didn't want to be hurt or die?

"Sulpher?" Vayne's bleeding had stopped, but Sulpher knew that wasn't natural.

"Let's go see if there's anything left in the medicine chest." They had taken a few things to try to sell in town, but people wanted things for free all the time. Vayne didn't need them. He could heal any wound, instantly. But most people couldn't. Nor could normal mana.

"Next time a bear attacks you, run away and call me. I don't want you to let it hurt you. I don't want you to be hurt." Vayne listened, sometimes the way a child did and sometimes with a frown. Sometimes Vayne asked questions, whys, and sometimes he was silent and watched. This was one of the latter times.

They didn't go out until the bear was out of sight and scent, to clean up the blood on the walk and hang the laundry.

The bear was upwind, and a couple of the smaller kind of bear had come with it.

Vayne stumbled, trying to get away, caught between two wishes (the animals' for him to stay, Sulpher's for him to flee) and called out, "Sulpher?" And what was Sulpher supposed to do? He was a cat, what Vayne needed were some bombs or the artificial claws humans used. But what did Vayne know about using claws?

"Sulpher, please!" The bear was lunging forward to swipe at him again, and with a sword Vayne could block that and strike back, but as it was his right hand was just going to get mangled…

Afterwards, as far as Sulpher could tell he'd wished that he could block the blow, make Vayne move properly, and that Vayne was holding something that could protect him, all at the same time.

At the moment, all he knew that he was on Vayne's hand, he was the claws the kitten needed and Vayne needed to lunge forward, so he tugged on his arm and _sliced_, again and again until it was over. Vayne wasn't able to kill (although he was going to need to learn). Sulpher was a predator.

Perhaps he should have objected to Vayne taking liberties with his person and turning him into a weapon, but it probably wasn't intentional. Vayne was still young and easily confused by two many wishes. And it wasn't broken, so Sulpher didn't intend to fix it. Sulpher knew a bit about fighting, so it made perfect sense, and yes, he was sure that he was alright. Vayne had even put his fur back properly, although he still licked at it to be sure.

Vayne always got blank when there were bodies, and even more odd than usual. "The bear. It did not want to die. But you wished that I wouldn't be hurt."

Sulpher lifted an ear up. Was he finally starting to get the idea that you couldn't please everyone all the time? And, in that same way, Vayne wondered that, "There was a part of him that didn't want to die. Why do people wish for things when they don't want them?" Why do they tell me to do things that will scare them or hurt them?

"Cats are contrary." Even if he was being a poor cat, letting Vayne take entirely too many liberties with his person. He'd never been especially fond of kittens, even!

"Father was human. There were things that he wished to do, that he wished for me to do. That he couldn't do unless he continued to live. But he also wished to die and not do what he wished." If he wanted me to save lives, save that girl's life, when all other alchemy failed, then why did my creator decide that out of all the things I could do or be, what he wanted most was a killer?

Father? Sulpher felt miffed. "That man is dead to me. Even his memory. Cats are contrary, humans are just foolish. But," Sulpher looked at his paws, "Sometimes things hurt. And if you're dead you don't hurt anymore."

"But his memory hurts you. Do you wish to forget, the way you wish for me to forget?" It seemed that Vayne was looking into his head, utterly puzzled by what he saw there. Cats were supposed to be mysterious, but to Vayne Sulpher was an open book. His wishes, at least. But not his reasons. "But you also wish for me to think about what wishes I will grant. So you keep wishing for me to remember again so I won't make the same mistakes."

Sulpher had been doing that to Vayne, all unknowing? Vayne asked, "How can I think about things if I don't remember them? I cannot figure out why he made that wish or why the others were upset when their wishes were granted. You also wish to forget and you wish to remember, for me."

"I wish to forget because the memory hurts. My wish is not for forgetting, it is for the pain to cease. But a claw to the nose is necessary in life. You won't get eaten by a bear anytime soon, I hope?"

"If that is what you wish." Vayne shrugged, utterly dismissive of his physical well-being. "There are many wishes in this world. You are the one I trust to choose for me, but you also wish for me to be able to choose for myself. However, pain is a necessary thing, in order to learn. The pain of rejection. The pain of death. Both. I could grant the wish of you and the wish of the bear by conjuring food, but that is not your wish." It would draw more bears down on them. "I guess… I can grant your wish, that I don't have to suffer anymore and can still think about things."

Vayne was starting to glow gently, although he hadn't yet risen up. This was definitly Vayne-the-mana now, and Sulpher washed his paw as he considered.

Vayne wouldn't do anything Sulpher didn't want him to, and he could tell him to undo it. That, and Vayne seemed to think this was a good idea and Sulpher needed to get him to think more independently, be less doglike.

Vayne could hear his answer, or perhaps he simply knew Sulpher's desire. "As you wish." And the glow went away, leaving a rueful Vayne who watched Sulpher continue to wash himself. "I'm sorry, Sulpher. I kept banging you into them, are you sure you're okay?"

-

The first version of this was finished sometime around midnight, so my apologies to those who read it before.

DID, more commonly known is MPD, is interesting. Essentially, if something trumatic enough they just can't bear it and remain sane enough to function happens to a kid they repress it so that they can go on with life. But, if they keep winding up in that situation again then they need to remember the previous time(s) so that they can try to formulate a strategy for, at least, minimizing the damage. So you end up with two different personae/modes, one that's normal and one that's been shaped by the nasty stuff that happened to them. Or, if the too-horrible-to-deal-with-and-function situation is the more common one, then their 'normal life' is what gets repressed and the other persona can be made up from whole cloth, a fantasy life where they're happy or the threats are ones they can deal with.

Vayne's 'real personality' can be said to be the other Vayne, or at least it's the saner personality, defining saner as the one that's more in touch with reality. The Vayne in the game is essentially the delusional escapist personality. Vayne isn't the human son of Theofratus any more than another person with DID is the Princess of Mars or whatever.

Mauryn Eign made a great partial script for me, and in it the Other Vayne says that maybe Vayne having a split personality was a wish just like everything else in his life. For humans, DID is a mental self-defense mechanism: often the other options are suicide or a complete mental breakdown. But I doubt mana evolved such automatic defenses, or that Vayne was accurate down to instinct, so it kind of had to be a wish.

The chapter title is because in this chapter Vayne is both starting to defend himself physically, although Sulpher's doing all the work, and mentally.


	4. Ethics & the Meaning of Life

& a bit more.

I kept trying to respond to this one review and fanfictiondotnet kept glitching, so yeah. When Vayne had his strange manner of speaking in the previous chapter, that was other!Vayne, or at least the nascent other!Vayne.

Just like Vayne made a lot of progress towards normalcy between his birth and game time, the other!Vayne, whose job it was to figure that out, made a lot of progress towards being/sounding normal between then and when we see him in the game. He was meant to sound like he was trying to grasp for meaning & not sound quite human about it in the last chapter.

In any case, two steps forward, one step back...

-

It wasn't that Vayne had suddenly started acting differently. It was that he _wasn't_.

He wasn't coming over to Sulpher and asking if he had any wishes (Sulpher had wished that he would ask instead of just reading Sulpher's mind/will/whatever it was). He wasn't waiting for Sulpher to make every decision, but doing things like pulling open a random book or poking at the remains of the garden when he didn't have anything to do. It wasn't that he had suddenly gained the ability to be interested in things, or hobbies, but he seemed to be learning how to make his own entertainment.

Vayne wasn't acting differently. He was acting _normal_, and it was a huge relief.

He wasn't pestering Sulpher while trying not to because he needed something to do all the time. He wasn't suddenly becoming empty-eyed and _remembering_. He wasn't granting wishes.

If there were any nearby towns that hadn't heard the rumors of the demon child by now Sulpher would have tried taking him there, he was so improved. He'd even started eating without Sulpher having to remind him!

"I don't want fish again, but I'm hungry." Vayne grimaced, sitting on the bank, when Sulpher asked about it.

He'd thought it was a pity that Vayne hadn't gained the ability to want things yet. And of course if he was able to want _anything_, it would be fish.

It didn't occur to him to wonder why a mana would be hungry for normal food when normal mana were incapable of eating. It didn't occur to him that the amount Vayne was eating was far too much: Theofratus had been eating far too little those last few years, and growing kits, and probably boys as well, ate more.

When Vayne clutched a bloated stomach, pained and almost crying because he was so hungry he hurt and needed Sulpher to fix it, please, Sulpher wasted precious hours having Vayne try potion after potion, panic starting to claw at his own stomach.

It wasn't until a vial dropped through Vayne's hand to shatter on the floor and they both stared as the hand wavered between solidity and mist that Sulpher realized this wasn't a disease. Hunger.

Vayne turned to him, horrified, the familiar plea about to pass his lips, and Sulpher's back arched and he hissed, full of anger with himself, for Vayne to, "Don't worry me like this! You need to grant wishes to survive, so grant at least that many! I wish for you to recover!"

He knew he was right when Vayne's eyes grew blank, when he began to hover again as he hadn't since the last time Vayne had granted his wishes. "So my survival is important?"

Sulpher would have sputtered if that hadn't been undignified. Not that his dignity wasn't already lost. He would have to do a lot of grooming after his hair had stuck on end like that. "No cat would need to ask that question."

"I shouldn't grant wishes unless it's important. You wanted me to learn that, but you also wanted me to stay with you. Right, I can't stay with you if I die." Like Theofratus. Vayne looked almost sheepish, still-pale and a little frazzled with the stress of trying to understand what wishes were to mortals. Or to people who weren't the mana of wishes - surely other mana didn't always get what they wanted. "I'm sorry."

Sulpher flopped down on the ground, now that Vayne was going to try to be sensible. "I didn't raise you all this time just for you to starve. If you need to do what I want you to, then do so. If you have to use your powers," perhaps it was like exercise, important to health, "then do so."

"You want me to think of my own life and my own needs as important. That's a lot easier than figuring out what I want." Necessities were necessities, it wasn't asking him to pick from infinity.

It wasn't that Vayne wasn't interested in Theofratus' books or the plants in the forest or anything, it was that he was equally interested in just about everything. He didn't seem to have preferences.

Perhaps even his dislike of death was that death meant that people couldn't work to attain their wishes anymore, and Vayne was, as near as Sulpher could tell, people's wishes. So a death would diminish Vayne, perhaps?

That made it not an ethical choice, a wish for people to live, but a fact of his existence.

Sulpher had thought Vayne understood that death was bad, had seen that as a starting point in getting Vayne to understand what it was to want things, but if Vayne didn't even intrinsically prefer himself to be alive?

Recently, the 'normal' Vayne hadn't been able to tell what Sulpher was thinking when it came to things he... didn't remember? If Vayne hadn't remembered that hunger meant he needed to grant a wish that would explain how this had happened.

"You don't want me to suffer, Sulpher. So I don't either." It was clear he was saying this to comfort Sulpher (who wanted to be comforted right now), but at least that was one good thing. "I'll try to figure out what you want me to, how to act human without being discovered."

Sulpher sighed, tail lashing. "If you are in danger again, or hungry, or... I may wish for you to need me less, but that doesn't mean I wish for you to suffer," as Vayne had put it. "Do you need me to wish you to do something else."

"I'm fine, for now. And changing myself so that I can understand is a big wish. I'll do my best." So don't worry.

Did Vayne not want Sulpher to worry because Vayne cared or because Sulpher didn't want to worry? Or was it both, and Vayne simply couldn't tell the difference yet?

Sulpher didn't know, but he tried to tell himself that at least knowing more about the problem was progress (something Theofratus had said), as Vayne returned to his best imitation of normal.

Vayne was never going to be normal. Sulpher should have known something was wrong when he had seemed that way instead of just viewing it as a relief and a sign he could take a vacation from responsibility.

Vayne was still such a _kitten_, and if he was willing to starve to death to please Sulpher there was still a lot of work to be done. Of course Vayne would never achieve a cat's level of independence and self-respect, but if what made Vayne happy and healthy was serving others, then Sulpher would have to live with that. After all, he wouldn't have complained if Theofratus' priorities had been a bit straighter.

Vayne might be such a kitten, but he would never be able to become a cat, poor deprived creature. Sulpher just had to accept that he was a lesser being, as cats had put up with humans for eons, and do his best, as a cat, to ensure that Vayne could be happy despite this handicap.

A pity that even if he wished that Vayne would turn into a cat he would still be a mana.

Or could Vayne change his own nature, own species?

That would have been the easy solution to Sulpher's problems, but forcing another to go against nature? Humans might call cats selfish, but he would never allow Vayne to think that he had to stop being himself to please Sulpher.

He would never allow Vayne to do that. What use was happiness if you were no longer you to be happy? If that happened the Vayne he had raised would be as dead as Theofratus.

Still, he knew that he would even stay by that new soul in memory of this one, just like he was helping Vayne, at least in part, in memory of the person Theofratus had once been.

-

This sets up game-Vayne's approach to wishes, where he does what other people want him to (Sulpher, Flay...) and tries to grant their wishes/make them come true (like Roxis' wish for a mana), but never draws on his powers unless lives are on the line (or a tree's life, at least).

I might have this continue into the post/endgame fic idea I had, yet another alternate ending & a better one. Or I might end this on the same downer note as the game, where Vayne ceases to be himself, kills his true self in fact, becoming only the delusion.

The game's ending is a bit similar to Kiki's Delivery Service's. Although at least Kiki... Well, that's spoilers.


	5. On the Selection And Training of Humans

& more.

I'd wanted to post the next chapter when MK2 came out, to celebrate, but then the fires happened & the smoke knocked me out. Still, here it finally is.

This is probably going to be dialogue light, if there's dialogue at all. Dialogue's harder to write, although I did a lot of almost pure dialogue stuff when I started writing. Either you have the characters speaking & it practically writes itself or it doesn't, and Sulpher is a cat of few words in-game. He knows a lot and thinks a lot about things, but the cryptic comments are practically dragged out of him.

A character who doesn't want to talk about stuff means a muse who doesn't. Since a lot of the point of this series was getting inside Sulpher's head and he doesn't say what he's thinking, obviously it ends up light on dialogue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mana Khemia: Gust and various other people do. No money, don't sue.

-

In the end, Sulpher had to let Vayne be found.

Not by Isolde. She'd come once: he'd wisely gotten Vayne out of the house unseen (that was back when all it took was a wish), and kept out of the way himself while she wept and carried on.

Although she was a queen, and therefore naturally suited to taking care of kittens more than a tom like himself, she was a fool who chose to blame Theofratus' death on his research rather than the human himself. Theofratus had made his choices, regardless of the pain they caused to the queen who courted him or his noble and long-suffering cat.

Vayne had improve exponentially since then, but Sulpher would still have preferred to wait a few more years to let him be found by an alchemist, preferably an alchemist who was less of a shallow twit.

The trouble was that Sulpher only had a few more years, and after that Vayne would still need to eat. So, obviously, he needed to form a pact with someone. Preferably an alchemist who knew about mana and could find ways to fulfill Vayne's needs without abusing his power. Preferably an alchemist who was responsible and sane instead of obsessed with something-or-other, but Sulpher knew those didn't exist.

Mana, as Luplus had told him years ago, were old and bored. Would only pact with people they found interesting, for reasons varying from outright insanity to an obsession with success at alchemy. Theofratus going so far out of his way to pact with such a unique mana, daring the dragon graveyard itself? Able to transform future, potential years into years _now_ to stave off a child's death?

In other words, idiot overachievers. And idiots of other varieties. Not that sensible humans were common in the first place, but 'sensible alchemist' was an oxymoron.

Washing his paw, Sulpher reflected on how much work he had ahead of him. It was definitely going to take years to pick out the least bad option among Al Revis' students and staff.

He should probably start with a freshman and see if they could be trained up.

The things he did for this kitten…

Luckily, Vayne himself seemed to function as a bit of a weathercock. Selfish people who didn't want to be bothered sent him away, since they didn't realize the power he possessed. While these ones had potential, Sulpher decided, letting them drag Vayne along.

One of them was _that _girl, which was obviously out of the question. He wanted Vayne to have a pact with someone who would live more than a couple years longer than Sulpher did, otherwise it was all wasted effort.

The beast-girl bore watching, however, although she clearly had no concept of proper feline dignity. Still, he pointed her out to Vayne.

Flay had large dreams, perhaps even larger than Theofratus, and absolutely no hesitation to force others into things. Not to mention he was no scholar. Sulpher shuddered to think what he'd do with Vayne's powers and he certainly wouldn't be able to do any alchemist things that needed to be done in case something went wrong with Theofratus' work and Vayne grew ill.

_That_ girl, Jess, only had any alchemical talent at all when it came to causing disasters. He didn't want Vayne used to blow up a city or any such thing, so she was even more out of the question.

Sulpher considered having Vayne join another workshop, one containing people with a bit more potential, especially after he found out that the beastgirl's life plan was not to do research or become a skilled alchemist capable of looking after an artificial mana but have as many kits as possible. The very idea of Vayne having kits caused his fur to become just horribly ruffled: who knew what would happen.

Still, they were admirable babysitters – Vayne was happier than he ever was. Sulpher normally stayed by his side just in case: he couldn't afford to let Vayne use his powers in front of a whole bunch of alchemists who would ask _questions _without respect for a cat's privacy the way such people did.

Vayne, used to being dependant on him even if he didn't quite remember the whole of why (wishes were food and water and air itself, and Sulpher's wishes were the best, of course), was comfortable with those three and their chaos and their bright dreams, comfortable enough that Sulpher could wander off without being given pleading eyes when he came back.

Not that he hadn't been able to do his own things before, no cat would put up with being at someone's beck and call all the time, kitten or not. But now he could pad away to investigate during the daytime.

Although it was best not to be seen. A student's wondering where Vayne was reminded him that normal mana couldn't manifest away from their pact-holder, and he wanted the humans to keep assuming he was the mana.

Still, despite his investigative efforts, it was Vayne himself who identified the person Sulpher was forced to admit was definitely the best candidate.

Highly intelligent and obsessed with research instead of conquering the world or some such nonsense, check.

But what truly impressed Sulpher was the way he clearly didn't want Vayne's power.

No, Roxis wanted to do everything on his own. Had such strong wishes, wishes that drew Vayne like a moth to a (fortunately well-covered) flame, and didn't want Vayne to grant them.

At first glance he'd ruled him out: if Roxis didn't allow Vayne to grant any wishes then he'd starve the poor kitten. Yet Vayne kept trying to grant them, with his own hands, the way Roxis tried to fulfill his own wishes, and Sulpher was quietly amazed at the strength of will it took to have dreams strong enough that _simply being around them_ energized Vayne.

Not that he'd ever admit to being impressed by a human, of course.

Still, something clearly had to be done about Roxis' envy of Vayne.

No kitten he raised was going to mope around like a kicked puppy.

Mana were intrigued by novelty. The Mana of Light wasn't interested in Roxis. She preferred a pact holder who would snap back, and Roxis took her insults far too much to heart.

It was amusing, but would get terribly boring after a couple of years.

A couple of years, on the other hand, was the time Sulpher had left, the time Vayne had left before he would need to make another pact or… who knew what. Theofratus hadn't cared.

An artificial mana was a novelty. The idea of training up an alchemist to properly take care of one clearly intrigued the Mana of Light, once he allowed her to tease the story out of him. It was generally best to let humans and mana think things were their own ideas. Especially ones who liked to think they were better at manipulation than cats were.

It was a pity Flay had already pacted with the Mana of Gold – No, it wasn't. It really wasn't.

He had to wash his fur again at the thought,

He disliked seeing someone brought to heel the way Roxis was, but reflected that after a few years of this, Roxis would be very, very happy to get a nicer mana. One that needed him instead of constantly using the fact that it didn't to force him into line.

Seeing how easily he was wrapped around another kitten's paw just sealed the deal.

Vayne had used his powers only a few times after coming here, so Sulpher wondered if Roxis was the answer to Sulpher's wish for a good pactholder for Vayne.

After all, if Roxis didn't exist Sulpher would have needed to ask Vayne to invent him.

Even with the super-healthy and high quality cat food Vayne made, he wasn't getting any younger.


	6. On the Care And Housing of Kittens

Chapter five contains the first optional scene with Roxis' kitten.

The timeframe of this kind of overlaps with the previous chapter, On the Selection And Training of Humans. It's kind of an elaboration of it, since the focus of that chapter was an overview of Sulpher realizing that he had to pick someone and making the choice.

This is more of the nitty-gritty, and I'm finally writing it since, well… As much as I love Dragon Quest VII, I burned myself out class-grinding. I've been trying to play games until I finish them, but I spent too many hours last weekend and then realizing that Aira had 200 battles to go until she mastered the Sage class and could finally move on to Summoner was just too much. Then I stuck Mana Khemia in to listen to the music and a few hours later I'm in Chapter Five and writing down the dialogue of one of the missable scenes I needed more information on to write about it in Felis. Part of the reason Chapter Five of Felis was unclear was deliberate, I didn't want to go into too much detail as I can't really trust my memory anymore.

You'll get the reference if you've read Diane Duane's cat wizard sub-series.

And if Sulpher has anything to say about it this fic's one pairing will be him/the Campus Grounds cat.

-

Sulpher yawned, stretching out on the warm bed Vayne had thoughtfully provided. Truth be told, he had preferred napping on the roof despite the unpleasant revelation.

He had thought that Nikki had been growing as a cat, overcoming those idiotic human rules and embracing her catly right to sleep wherever the mood struck her. Then they'd found out that That Girl had poisoned her, and been running to make a cure. Vayne had been horribly distressed at the thought that he might have woken up from his nice sunlit nap to find himself next to a cold, dead body, and Sulpher had resolved to put something dead in her shoes until he'd realized that the experiment living in her room would probably eat it.

Alchemists.

Aside from that, it had been rather pleasant. The human chatter down below had been faded by distance, and there had only been the little breaths of two kittens napping in the sun. Very peaceful.

And he was old and needed his rest. Luckily Vayne hadn't yet realized that humans found finding a nice place to curl up odd.

Although no one was objecting. Frankly, he would have preferred them ignoring the mad vagrant (he could tell stories about Theofratus, but wouldn't) to gathering around, cooing, and blocking his light.

"Aww, that's so cute!" At least they were making an effort to whisper. Sulpher stretched, yawned, and kneaded Vayne's back a bit, wishing all this fuss wouldn't make him wake up and start moving.

"I wish mine was like that."

This was an excellent position to be in, and he had a Queen to court, the undisputed Queen of the Campus Grounds.

"…Tch." Recognizing the voice, Sulpher cocked an ear and rolled a bit.

My my my, it appeared the cooing girls had attracted the attention of the new one who had just joined Isolde's workshop. He appeared to be avoiding her a bit, although perhaps it was in order to avoid the other two.

Sulpher hadn't liked how the entire school had discussed he revival of the tree. But really, since so many people, including the Mana of Wood, had wished for it to be okay, for reasons ranging from compassion to the desire to pass finals, including Vayne's potential pactmates and Roxis himself, it had been inevitable.

At least Vayne had waited until the others were out of sight. He had been worried there for awhile.

Now Roxis was glaring the way he had when he'd told Vayne that he hated him, and Sulpher realized that Roxis had to be wishing with all his might that Vayne begone, or better yet not exist when Vayne twitched, shuddered, started to curl into a tighter ball.

Started to gather power. Vayne was always more easily influenced in his sleep. Luckily, as his pactmate, Sulpher was able to detect the now-rare occurrence and firmly wish for Vayne to stay put and not start glowing.

This was not one of the villages. It might ruin everything if Vayne vanished out of the crowded campus grounds and reappeared in the bed-made-pillow fort they'd slept in during the winters. Alchemists would ask questions, and since none of the students were allowed out of the academy until they had graduated and were deemed safe the faculty would be involved as well.

If she weren't too set in her ways and proud to train, he might have given the Vice Principal serious consideration, she had some catlike qualities. Finicky about the things that mattered, yet realizing that some rules were just pointless human things. Although he had wished she would punish Jess. She kept getting soot in his fur, until Vayne brushed it out, at least.

He would have hissed at Roxis – the irritation had spoiled his concentration and lost him serious points - but then he realized that the look wasn't hatred.

Jealousy. Not just of Vayne.

In this moment, he was jealous because Vayne had him. Was it just desire for a mana? He could smell that Roxis lacked one.

Or did he have the good taste to realize the innate superiority of cats? Obviously, a mana of cats would be the perfect mana, and any mana that took the form of a cat would surely have good taste.

Roxis gathered himself, straightening his posture and turning away with a "Hmph," as neatly done as any cat turning away to wash his fur with a posture of complete unconcern.

Putting the matter out of his mind as well, judging from how Vayne relaxed, just slightly.

Making a mental note to investigate him later, Sulpher also tabled the matter. The local wildlife meant that there were very few other cats at Al Revis, and he had courting to do.

-

He had known that the Queen would be putting other matters on hold prior to the festival. He didn't quite know what he thought about a cat running a shop like some human, but at least she was outperforming the humans. He was able to get caught up while Vayne ran around being far too impressed by all the human games and treats.

Well, he was a kitten.

Apparently the kobolds had been sending assassins to the surface. Cats viewed dealing with vermin as both duty and pleasure, and one Queen in particular had been making it difficult for them to execute raids on the cafeteria undetected. So far only glimpses had been caught of them, but it was assumed one of them had been responsible for letting that Queen out during her last heat.

Very likely they planned to execute a raid while she was heavy with kit or pinned down taking care of them. But with vermin, it was even more likely that-

Sulpher had left Vayne's room during the nights to guard her, when most humans kept their cats indoors and weren't around to wonder why a stray mana was in the Campus Grounds. No one had really expected a ninja to strike during the day.

He smelled the aftermath of the battle on the way back from class one day. One of the kittens had been left alive. Probably as a warning. The fact that no kobold bodies remained indicated that at least one had still been alive when the Queen had fallen, and kittens were far too easy to kill.

Roxis had already found the kitten, and Vayne hung back, not wanting to disturb him, and amazed to see him talking to a cat.

"Even if you cry cutely, I have nothing to give you."

Apparently Roxis was rather fluent in cat. Sulpher was slightly impressed. Just slightly.

The reminder of Theofratus was far too bitter for his taste.

"You mean, it tried to protect you and…" Hmm. Observant, even if too romantic. Well, the Queen had tried to die defending her kittens, even if a seasoned observer could tell that wasn't what had happened.

That put-upon sigh, that token show that it was entirely a selfish action? Not like Theofratus. He had been friendly. Roxis was going to take the kitten into his room, where it would be safe, _solely_ so that he wouldn't lose any sleep.

Yes, and dogs were intelligent.

He didn't pick the kitten up like lowly transportation, but rather strode off and let the kitten follow. Although saying that he didn't want anyone else to know, while true, did lose him points for admitting he cared about the opinions about lesser beings, the way he handled having responsibility for a kitten thrust upon him…

Sulpher was being reminded of himself and didn't like it. He was acting like an alchemist? Because Roxis was an alchemist's alchemist.

If he hadn't allowed himself to be pulled into Isolde's _pack_…

"Wow, that's surprising. Roxis, huh…"

He remained silent, tail lashing thoughtfully, but Sulpher had to agree with Vayne.

-

Yes, jealousy, Sulpher decided, sprawling over the worktable. If anyone had let their projects take up this space Roxis would have been hissy at them. And he didn't glare at the others when their mana appeared.

A small amount of 'why does that incompetent madman/madwoman have a mana and I don't?' Yes, that was still there, but only a flash.

'Why does Vayne have _that _mana and I don't?'

Yes, that showed good sense. Oh, yes, Sulpher should be looking like he cared right now, since Vayne was doing a synthesis and Roxis was watching. As Vayne's mana, he was theoretically helping him with syntheses. He yawned, straightening up.

Roxis knew that Sulpher had seen him watching and knew what it meant and proceeded to take it out on Vayne. Although he did have a point that they were going to need better medicines. Vayne wasn't strong enough yet, not relying on his powers, but before very long Sulpher was going to see how well Vayne could prepare kobold. "If there aren't any, make one. And you call yourself an alchemist?"

Finally, a clear wish from Roxis. Vayne was simultaneously relieved and flustered. "I-I guess. I have the base recipe, so if I change some ingredients…"

"Let me see it. I'll think of one with you."

Judging from Vayne's reaction, that wasn't a 'I'm willing to try to be friends' or an 'I want to do this with you.' "You're going to help me?"

"If I leave it to you, who knows when it will be done."

In other words, Roxis didn't think Vayne was competent enough to fulfill his wish. Didn't want to give him the chance. "That's not- I can do it…"

But Roxis didn't want to hear it. "What are you mumbling?"

In the end, all Vayne could do was let Roxis push him into doing the synthesis, and it wasn't fulfilling anything if you were handed a recipe and then weren't even able to make it then.

When Vayne tried to see if Roxis wanted to come up with another recipe together, or if there was _anything _Roxis wanted that he could grant, Roxis just said, "..Don't talk to me," in a tone that said Vayne was an utter idiot for thinking that Roxis would allow him to, for presuming he had the right to interrupt Roxis' focus with his… Vayneness.

Roxis didn't even want him to go away, just not…

Flay dragging in a new victim was a relief.

Although, while Flay had gone after Roxis because of how he and Vayne reacted to each other, he seemed to have selected Anna for his own amusement. The kitten did have claws, though, and Sulpher had hoped that her youth meant she would be malleable until she demonstrated that this sadly wasn't the case.

She was not the sort of human that would put up with Vayne napping on the lawn on a nice day.

To distract Anna from chasing him (and to show that yes, he did actually do some organizing around here despite being known as the embodiment of scholastic chaos), Flay organized a raid upon all the areas they were allowed to visit now they were sophomores like him. "Remember: pillage, then burn!" he told Jess as Vayne sadly picked up the charred remnants of the last ingredient he'd needed for Roxis' synthesis. Luckily they were able to find others.

They were all tired after the trip… except Anna, who still had the energy to make a nuisance of herself with that broom. Vayne settled into the sunny spot near the window and the faucet, where he tended to rest while they were trying out syntheses, so he didn't have to move too far to get to the cauldron, and Sulpher realized that this would be the first time Roxis would see Vayne napping, or rather catnapping since he wasn't getting to close his eyes for very long, in the workroom.

Roxis' back was even straighter than normal, trying to act as though he was not tired, not at all, unlike his disgracefully weak rival who was yawning, stretching, and trying to keep an eye open in case Jess tried anything too funny with that bomb. Sulpher didn't lie down on top of him because Vayne would be getting up too soon. Instead, he padded over to Roxis.

Who gave him a look that said that he would give anything to be petting him, but he was _Vayne's _mana, and why couldn't Roxis have met him first, and he would have asked Sulpher to leave Vayne and be his mana if he hadn't understood that Sulpher would never do that.

Partly because of honor, partly because Roxis seemed to think that he just wasn't good enough, despite the prideful façade.

If he were just Vayne's _cat_, he would certainly have gotten pets, he thought, irritated.

Roxis hadn't wanted Vayne to make those X-heals or gear for him, no, so that didn't fulfill any wishes. Yet that drive Roxis had, the kind he'd seen in Theofratus. There was a wish there, Vayne just couldn't figure out how to fulfill it.

The longer this went on the more frustrated Vayne got, until Sulpher knew he had to do something before the words, "I wish I had a mana," were dragged past Roxis' lips.

He did have potential, but he had to unlearn whatever bad habits he'd picked up in Isolde's pack first. This workshop might be composed of mad alchemists, but it was a rather good environment for raising honorary kittens.


	7. On the Care and Housing of Alchemists

_To end the fic, what better way than Sulpher's opinions of the game's different endings?_

_Nekomata are the cat equivalent of kitsune, sort of. Although there's more to it than that. I just liked the idea._

* * *

Sulpher didn't have any complaints.

Except the ones about Theofratus, of course.

Aside from that, he'd had a pretty good life. There was no reason not to stay here, to keep Vayne company as he died.

There wasn't any reason not to give up his life for the sake of giving Vayne a little comfort. It wasn't like he didn't have four more of the things.

* * *

Sulpher normally wouldn't deign to share his thoughts with the unfeline masses, but that universal translator thing _was _handy. He yawned, then got up to prowl around a bit.

"His Highness, the Prince of Antares, Grand Duke of Sirius…" Sulpher tuned out the list of titles. "…demands tribute! Offer him your finest fish, and perhaps your miserable lives will be spared!"

Some of the many bowing servants scurried off to obey the order conveyed by Sulpher's herald.

Only the best for the adoptive parent of Muppy's Queen, after all.

It wasn't _quite _the respect he deserved, and he deserved more worship than this just for being a cat, but ruling several star systems wasn't a bad retirement.

* * *

"Sulpa!" One of Vayne's youngest kits squealed with delight when he prowled into their room at night, just checking. He wasn't a watchdog or anything like that, but it was only natural for a tomcat to patrol his territory.

He jumped up onto a dresser loaded with supplies for dealing with small children. Luckily Vayne and Nikki were alchemists, since making this would have used up money that could have been spent on bonitas and tiger blowfish. The children around the dresser all tried to attract his attention, since they'd been woken up by Mimi's exclamation.

"Mrow." _Don't wake them up_, he reminded them.

"Sulpa says don wake up Mama and Papa."

"Can I come?"

He yawned, washing his paw for a bit. _It's up to your sister._ He'd let them sort themselves out.

"Please, Mimi?"

"I'll let you play with my ball!"

Mimi yawned, looking aloof and recovering her dignity now that Sulpa was here. Some lack of proper gravitas and lapses in behavior were only to be expected of kittens. "I spose."

Sulpher began jumping down into cribs, picking up kittens, and putting them on the floor where they could run around.

Vayne might have hidden his nature, but it was still part of him. Sulpher had been right to be nervous about what Vayne's kits would be like. Hiding their powers was being every bit as irritating as Vayne's had been.

Some of them he still didn't know _what _their element was, or which one in the litter that had been present had done whatever it was.

The things he did for that kit… Still, at least he would know that the universe had been made a place vastly more worthy of his species deigning to exist in it due to his noble effort.

There was finally a Mana of Cats.

* * *

"Can you keep an eye on her, Sulpher? Please? I need to run to town."

Sulpher _hated _puppy dog eyes, but he still turned around and found a sun-warmed patch of bed to sit on. The fact that it was Jess' sickbed had nothing to do with it.

She was asleep, anyway, so it wasn't irritating at all.

Jess only stirred briefly, shifting a bit. Vayne must have given her a strong draught so that she wouldn't try to strain herself while he wasn't around to supervise. One time, she'd pretended to be asleep when he left and he'd returned to find that she'd fallen in the kitchen and hit her head.

She might have died then, trying to make him something.

She might die today, even with these precautions. The smell of decay was heavy in the room, it made Sulpher sneeze a bit and need to resettle himself in his warm patch.

He hadn't wanted Vayne to pact with an alchemist who wouldn't outlive Sulpher by very long. At this rate, Sulpher was going to outlive Jess. At least Vayne wasn't pacted to her.

It would still break his heart when she died. If Sulpher hadn't been a cat, he would have tried to nudge Vayne away from her. But he was a cat, and this fruitless struggle was Vayne's own decision.

He hoped this girl wouldn't destroy Vayne the way she had Theofratus.

* * *

While Vayne and Flay had their little reunion, Sulpher was pleasantly surprised to find that Flay had the good taste to play host to a very pretty little white cat with a gorgeous little set of fangs.

Apparently he had learned proper petting technique over his years of playing villain, too.

After Flayvor of Evil was defeated by his arch-rival Alchemy Man, the world was saved but his evil syndicate still lurked in the shadows, ready to rise to threaten the world again the next time Flay got bored.

Finding homes for all those kittens kept him busy for awhile, at least.

* * *

"Here you are," Pamela said happily, floating up through the roof he'd been walking along. "It's time to move on to the next town, ok?"

What, she'd gotten them run out of _another _one?

Sulpher just shrugged and jumped up onto her teddy bear (the mana could bear his weight). He'd enjoyed traveling with Theofratus. Places to go, new kinds of fish to eat, Queens to pay court to…

* * *

"Wow, that was intense. Wasn't it, Sulpher?" Vayne lay stretched out on the ground, panting, after he'd finally brought Anna down. "I was almost out of cure jars."

Sulpher ignored him in favor of picking the good bits out of the tray of sushi Anna's servants had brought. They should visit more often: he would have told Vayne this if Vayne could still hear him.

It was a little dangerous, because Anna was superstitious and had a tendency to attack first and ask questions later, but he was confident in his ability to hide the consequence of his age and power from her.

Sulpher quite liked having two tails to lash.

* * *

Roxis gave good pettings. He also made better cat food than Theofratus.

There were other reasons why he was the best choice for Vayne's pactmate, as soon as Roxis' research found a way to unlock Vayne's powers despite Vayne's denial and claims that he was human now, but Sulpher was a cat, and thus gave his personal comfort the high priority that it deserved.


End file.
